All Blacks will face Italian pragmatism in Wellington after showing their hand to the world
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
ANALYSIS: Now the All Blacks have advertised to the world their intention to play at breakneck speed in both word and deed, opponents will spend a lot of their time trying to slow them down.
Italy are not going to play against the All Blacks in wintry Wellington on Saturday like the French did under the roof in Christchurch.
Les Bleus kicked the ball just 21 times in the All Blacks 34-32 win on Saturday, but the smart money would be on Italy kicking more than that as they try to turn the Wellington test into a war of attrition.
Italy were poor by their own recent standards as they lost 27-10 to Japan in Tokyo last weekend.
Read more:
Nations Championship: Will Jordan closes in on All Blacks try-scoring record as Italy loom
Nations Championship: The lessons from the first round and how the All Blacks stacked up
Black Ferns co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu ruled out for rest of season after croc roll injury
Surprisingly, it took them 36 minutes to win a single aerial contest, while their timing and handling in midfield was way below expectations.
Those two areas are normally areas of real strength. Their wingers are typically very good under the high ball, while midfielders Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex are far better than their performances against Japan suggested.
The quality of the Italians’ ball movement across the backline has been one of keys to their improvements over recent years, but it was seen only sporadically in Japan.
Perhaps entering that Tokyo test as favourites didn’t sit well with the Italians, who might relish the return to underdog status in Wellington.
In fact, if they get their box-kicking and kick-chase game right, Italy seem to enjoy making life difficult for the bigger teams.
They beat Scotland 18-15 in terrible conditions in Rome in the Six Nations, and again emerged triumphant against England after sucking them into a 23-18 dogfight at the same stadium.
Although his radar was off in Tokyo, halfback Stephen Varney is often on the money with his box kicks and winger Monty Ioane is a great example of a winger who has upskilled in recent years to become very good at contesting high kicks.
Louis Lynagh, son of Michael, is also excellent in this area and he will presumably return against the All Blacks after missing the defeat to Japan.
The status of star man Ange Capuozzo is unclear - he wasn’t named in Italy’s initial 33-man squad for the Nations Championship and wasn’t involved in the Top 14 final for his club Toulouse.
It is a bit harsh to label the Italians as spoilers, but it is likely they will try to slow down the All Blacks’ rhythm by going to the air and making a real scrap of the ball on the ground.
Captain Michele Lamaro leads a competitive loose forward trio and is excellent at the breakdown - a real warrior who can frustrate other teams.
The All Blacks-France test in Christchurch was the romantic version of test rugby, with both sides running the ball in an uptempo game.
Italy will bring the pragmatic version of the sport to Wellington after seeing what the All Blacks attacking machine was capable of last week.